Ernest Cadorin
Karate Myths Debunked
2019/12/01Move over, MythBusters!
Last year, I taught a set of classes that had a bit of a MythBuster feel to them. I picked some common misconceptions about certain karate techniques and concepts and clarified them for the students. Here are three of the things we looked at:
1) The angle of a 50/50 stance is not 45°
When I started karate, it was common for new white belts to be told that we get into a 50/50 stance by stepping back diagonally at an angle of about 45°. It’s a simplification that helps get beginners started, but it’s a number that should not be taken too literally.
When we are in a 50/50 stance (usually as a result of blocking an attack), we should be able to shift into a front stance for a counterattack without having to slide our feet. Therefore, if our front stance has a length:width ratio of 2:1, then our 50/50 stance should have a length:width ratio of 2:1 – not 1:1! Consequently, we need to step back not 45°, but rather closer to 30° from the line of attack. In fact, if you work it out trigonometrically, it’s 27°.
2) A hook kick is not simply a side kick with a hooking pullback
When I first learned the hook kick, I was told to think of it as a side kick done slightly off target, followed by a pullback that hooks to strike the target. This is a useful analogy because it describes (pretty accurately) the path that the foot should follow during the kick. Unfortunately, I followed these directions too closely, and for the longest time I was not able to get any power in my hook kick.
The problem with the side kick analogy is that it’s only applicable to the external aspects of the hook kick (i.e. the motion of the leg and the path it follows). It is not applicable to the internal aspects of the kick (the way your muscles coordinate to develop kime*), and if you try to execute a hook kick using the same internal coordination that you would use for a side kick, the kime will be off and the kick will have no power.
The climax of a side kick happens at the moment of full extension, and we spend years training our muscles to coordinate in just the right way to achieve maximum power at that point in space and time. If we use that same coordination for a hook kick, the kick will climax before it strikes the target and will have very little power on impact. When executing a hook kick, we need to coordinate our bodies and muscles so that the climax happens at the moment of impact, and not before.
Incorrect Kime
Correct Kime
3) The word “samurai” does not mean “warrior”
The samurai were members of the Japanese warrior class for seven centuries, but their skills were not limited to fighting. Their training stressed moral and intellectual education, and they were involved in many different artistic pursuits.
As Sensei Burt Konzak wrote in his book Samurai Spirit,
The word samurai means “one who serves,” and the samurai warrior considered himself essential to the protection of his community and to his country, ready to sacrifice his very life if necessary.
* kime (pronounced “kee-may”) is the instantaneous tensing of muscles at the correct moment during a technique.